"Big Tech platforms used to insist they didn't have an anti-conservative bias. Now, they're saying something a little different: They've never had a bias, but the Biden administration tried to bias them. First Meta, now Google: They're putting those statements into letters, which are useful for Trump and his Republican allies. How does one of the world's most powerful companies please powerful Republicans - without actually doing that much?"
"Now, we're seeing Google use the same playbook, with one twist, which we'll get to in a minute. But the very big picture is that Google, like Meta in 2024, is attempting to give a win to Jim Jordan, the Republican Congressman who has long been trying to prove that Big Tech platforms are biased against conservatives. But it's trying to do that without admitting that it did much wrong itself."
"So, in a letter to Jordan, released on Tuesday, Google spends a lot of time explaining that it has always been committed to free expression, and other ideas that aren't remotely controversial. It also doesn't acknowledge that it made any mistakes when it dealt with controversial claims during the COVID-19 pandemic, or the claims Donald Trump and his supporters made about the 2020 election."
Big Tech now frames content decisions as free-speech commitments while attributing pressure or influence to the Biden administration. Meta's summer 2024 letter offered a partial, qualified apology while blaming the administration for creating pressure. Google followed with a similar letter to Congressman Jim Jordan that emphasizes free expression and avoids admitting mistakes over COVID-19 or 2020 election content moderation. Both companies appear to craft statements that furnish political wins for Republican critics without conceding substantive wrongdoing. Google's letter was signed by Dan Donovan, an attorney at King & Spaldi.
Read at Business Insider
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